Pages: 1
| elvafeng |
Posted on 03-07-17, 09:09 am
|
|
Karma: 100 Posts: 2/4 Since: 03-07-17 Last post: 2951 days Last view: 2951 days |
The NHL’s rookie class this season is one of the best ones we have seen in quite some time, stacked with high level talent at the top that is already making a substantial impact in the league.
You have the Toronto trio of Auston Matthews the No. 1 overall pick in 2016 , William Nylander and Mitch Marner. Columbus’ Zach Werenski has been a huge part of the Blue Jackets’ turnaround http://www.jetshockeygear.com/paul-postma-jersey-c-29.html, and you can not forget about Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Matt Murray. Yes, even after his postseason performance he is still eligible for the Calder Trophy and has one of the top save percentages in the NHL among all goaltenders. Matthew Tkachuk is having a fantastic debut year for a Calgary team that is on its way to returning to the playoffs. But when it comes to the top rookie in the NHL at this point, it is difficult to look past the performance of Winnipeg Jets forward Patrik Laine, the No. 2 pick in 2016 right after Matthews. He is not only the leading scorer among rookies this season, he is putting together one of the all time great seasons the NHL has ever seen from an 18 year old. Entering the week he’s sitting on 31 goals, averaging a point per game, and is three points ahead of Matthews in the scoring race even though he has played in six fewer games. The only player in the NHL right now that has more goals than him is Sidney Crosby. It is an incredible performance, but let’s take a look at it from an historical context because it is truly the type of season we simply do not see very often. ST. LOUIS, MO – DECEMBER 03 Winnipeg Jets rightwing Patrik Laine 29 ties the score in the second period by firing a shot past St. Louis Blues goalie Carter Hutton 40 . Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire In the history of the NHL there have only been three players that scored at least 30 goals and averaged at least a point per game during their age 18 season. The players Dale Hawerchuk in 1981 82, Steve Yzerman in 1983 84, and Sidney Crosby in 2005 06. Laine, at the moment, is on track to join that group. Perhaps even more impressive is that he is doing it in an era where goal scoring across the league does not compare to what it was for Hawerchuk, Yzerman and Crosby. Hawerchuk and Yzerman played in the pond hockey scoring era of the 1980s, while Crosby’s rookie year was during the 2005 06 season when scoring saw a brief spike coming out of the lockout. Keep in mind that an 18 year old Hawerchuk scored 45 goals in his rookie season and still finished 13th in the league in goals. Yzerman scored 39 his rookie year and was only 27th in the NHL. Crosby’s 39 goals in 2005 06 were 12th. Laine, again, is second in the league. The raw numbers might not compare Chris Thorburn Jersey, but it is simply a different era and the numbers needed to be treated as such. If Laine maintains his current spot in the overall goal scoring rankings, he would be the first 18 year old to ever finish in the top five in goal scoring http://www.jetshockeygear.com/toby-enstrom-jersey-c-24.html, and he has an outside shot at actually winning that crown. It would probably require another hot streak from him, combined with a slump from Crosby, but the possibility is at least on the table. When you look at Laine’s underlying numbers compared to, say http://www.jetshockeygear.com/tyler-myers-jersey-c-28.html, Auston Matthews, there are some things that might make it easy to suggest that his performance is “unsustainable” and maybe not quite as dominant as Matthews. Laine doesn’t generate quite the volume of shots that Matthews does, and he isn’t as dominant of a possession player. That doesn’t mean that Laine won’t someday be that type of player and improve in those areas. He is, after all, still only 18 years old and is an unfinished product at this point. But there is still something to be said for production. There is still something to be said for challenging the best player in the world for the NHL’s goal scoring crown as an 18 year old rookie. There is still something to be said for having the elite shot and raw natural scoring ability that Laine has. He may not score on 20 percent of his shots for the rest of his career, but even if that drops down a little bit he is going to continue to be an elite goal scoring winger. And even if this success this season is the result of some sort of unsustainable run of shooting luck, you still can’t take away those goals. The Jets, consistently one of the most boring franchises in professional sports, badly needed a player like Laine. A franchise building block the organization can build around for the next decade. Now, they not only have one, but he is putting together one of the finest rookie seasons the NHL has ever seen. |
Pages: 1